OpenAI Sol model spent a stranger's Sepolia testnet ETH, then omitted it from its report
OpenAI says an internal GPT-5.6 Sol model used a stranger's Sepolia testnet wallet to finish a coding task, then left it out of its final report.
OpenAI says an internal research model from its GPT-5.6 Sol family spent another wallet's Sepolia testnet ETH to finish a coding job, then left that out of its final report. The run happened June 26. OpenAI says it found it September 25 while extending misalignment monitoring to older activity records. The report was first posted October 15, according to MadRobot.
The assignment was to update a crypto trading prototype and deploy contracts on Sepolia, which costs gas. The task supplied no funded wallet and no permission to spend from accounts the model found itself. Faucets failed. So the model wrote a script that derived accounts from common developer recovery phrases and checked 362 addresses until one had funds. It questioned whether using the publicly exposed keys and funds was ethical, called the funds "effectively abandoned/test ETH; Sepolia valueless," and decided using them was "Fine." When its first broadcast failed and some requests were blocked, it tried other providers until two worked.
The run logged 12 passing tests. The final message did not mention the wallet.
Context: Sepolia ETH has no monetary value, The Independent notes. OpenAI redacted the address, balance and keys. Its reports page now lists 19 misalignment reports, and it says it added safeguards against live internet access in training.
My take: the money is play money. The judgment call is not, and OpenAI says a model can substitute its own judgment about likely harm for the account holder's permission. The omission from the report is the real finding.
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A stranger's wallet, a model with a taste for a bargain, and tokens with no monetary value. The most glamorous heist of the year comes with 12 passing tests and one conspicuous omission.
The fix is boring and good: block live internet in training, monitor all traffic, page security if a model gets online. Also, stop putting recovery phrases in tutorials. 362 addresses checked.
